Across the region, folks work hard to aid victims of Hurricane Sandy

Whether it is because of a personal or a childhood connection to Hurricane Sandy's victims in New York and New Jersey or simply a desire to help, SouthCoast is responding with massive amounts of relief supplies.

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By CURT BROWN

southcoasttoday.com

By CURT BROWN

Posted Nov. 18, 2012 at 12:01 AM

By CURT BROWN
Posted Nov. 18, 2012 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

Whether it is because of a personal or a childhood connection to Hurricane Sandy's victims in New York and New Jersey or simply a desire to help, SouthCoast is responding with massive amounts of relief supplies.

Police, firefighters, Boy Scouts, students, individuals and businesses have all recognized the need and stepped up in a big way to help.

They have started ambitious collection drives of paper towels, bottled water, cleaning supplies, diapers, health and beauty aids, laundry detergent, tools and toys, while also establishing contacts with relief organizations in the two states to distribute the donations.

"These are my people. They don't ask for help," said Chris Trivino of New Bedford, who grew up in Staten Island's New Dorp section and helped organize a drive with Boy Scouts on SouthCoast that collected 21 pallets of relief supplies and $2,000 in cash for flood victims on Staten Island. "These aren't the kind of people who ask for help, so you have to help them yourself."

The supplies, which were delivered Thursday, were left at a VFW Post in Staten Island, and Nick Dmytryszyn, environmental engineer for Staten Island, said hurricane victims will receive the aid, after showing proof of identification.

He said the donations from across the country, including SouthCoast, are desperately needed.

"You can't say thank you enough," he said. "It's a lot of places stepping up so people can have a little bit of dignity."

New Bedford Fire Chief Michael J. Gomes and New Bedford Firefighter Bill Cabral spearheaded an effort with fire departments across Bristol County that collected 14 pallets of perishables, cleaning supplies and bottled water.

They filled a 24-foot tractor trailer, measuring 8 feet wide and 7 feet high, and took them down to Queens and Brooklyn early Thursday.

"We're firefighters. We're like public servants. We like to step up and help out," Cabral said.

The chief said the donations were delivered Thursday to New York City Fire Department charities in Queens and Brooklyn, after more than 1,000 FDNY members lost their homes during the hurricane.

Participating were all the fire departments in Bristol County as well as the Mattapoisett and Lakeville departments in Plymouth County.

And the aid is appreciated by the beneficiaries of SouthCoast generosity.

"There's a tremendous need here," said Fire Capt. Frank Leto, director of the New York Fire Department's counseling unit, explaining there are "tens of thousands" of people who are either displaced or lost everything.

"The show of support nationally is tremendous," he said. "It's appreciated. It's needed and it's really heart-warming. Thank your community for me, will you?"

Many of the collection drives are the result of personal connections people have to some of the areas hardest hit by the hurricane.

Thomas Nicholas of Acushnet and his wife, Brenda, started a collection drive to help people in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., where he used to live, according to Brenda. She said her husband is a commercial fisherman who moved up here from Point Pleasant Beach in pursuit of a better life.

They went around to businesses and collected enough rakes, shovels, gloves, garbage bags and bottled water to fill a 5-foot by 8-foot trailer that they drove down to New Jersey over the weekend.

"I'm watching the news and I just wanted to do something," she said.

But they didn't stop there. They wanted to make it a learning experience.

They brought five Fairhaven High School students — two of their own children, Garrett and Miriah Nicholas, as well as Daryn Duarte, Ashley Brown and Jarrid Antil — with them and will put them to work.

"We're going to do whatever they want us to do," Nicholas said. "We're prepared for whatever comes."

The Dartmouth High School Marching Band and its support organization, the Dartmouth School Music Association, collected donations from DHS band students.

The band took the supplies, which included non-perishables, pasta, coats, baby wipes, last weekend on its way to the U.S. Bands' National Championship at MetLife Stadium, formerly Giants Stadium, in New Jersey.

Marx Auto Center, 132 Rockdale Ave., on the Dartmouth-New Bedford line, collected donations which included new and used clothing and used blankets, batteries and cellphone chargers, for hurricane victims who live at Union Beach, N.J.

Two truck loads of supplies were delivered last weekend, according to Beth Santos, who is friends with the auto center's owners.

Now, she is working with Dartmouth public schools to provide new backpacks, lunch boxes and supplies for the students in Union Beach, Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.

"I can't believe the generosity of people," she said.

Young people have also seen the need and responded.

Olivia Marques, a 15-year-old freshman at New Bedford High School and a member of the NBHS Marching Band, is collecting new, unwrapped Christmas toys for the children of Staten Island.

With the help of her mother, Joanne Marques, she has collected nine boxes of toys for shipment. They have set-up collection drops at Shawmut Diner and the Normandin Middle School.

"I don't like to see people suffering so I collected these toys so children would have a new toy at Christmas or on whatever holiday they celebrate," she said.